FAITH, LOVE AND HOPE

By ROD MARTIN

Explore the literary world of Rod Martin, a multi-talented author, poet, songwriter, and playwright nestled in the lush rainforest of Kahalu'u, Hawaii on the island of Oahu. With a rich background of thirty years as an educator in Hawaii Public Schools, Rod has recently retired and dedicated his pen to cr

• Language: English
• Publisher: ROD MARTIN
• Release date: Jan 3, 2024
• ISBN: 9798869100252

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Faith, Love and Hope

Rod Martin, Poet

Copyright © 2023 by

Rod Martin

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the author.

ISBN: 979-8-8691-0026-9

Printed in the United States of America

Published by Book Marketeers.com

This collection of Poetry is dedicated to my two grand-daughters, Emily and Julia Preis. They inspire me to keep on writing poems which began over fifty years ago.

Acknowledgments

I’d like to thank my high school English teacher (though I can’t remember her name) for being so complimentary of my writing abilities. She made me want to continue being a writer.

Also, I must thank Bob Hacket for being the first person I ever met who kept a journal and encouraging me to do the same. He was a cool guy and made writing seem like a cool endeavor.

I’d also like the thank all my buddies who wrote songs with me: Barba Rosa, Antonio Azevedo, Davo, Pierre Grill of Rendezvous Studios, Jerry Steelfox, John Morris, Gyula Schrieber, Jim Erhart, Gabe Preis, Jojo Russell, Rabbit Mackay, and Chris Woods. Song lyrics are a form of poetry I have come to love.

And finally, I’d like to thank my loving wife, Jane Smith-Martin for 35 wonderful years of marriage, for being supportive of my writing and telling me I could spend some money to publish my first book of poetry.

My First Poem

I’m a hopeless teenager, but I’ll make it somehow,

Life is for living and I’m gonna live mine now.

Table of Contents

For the Sake of Sound

It Takes All Kinds

Baby’s Day

Things I Don’t Know About Animals

Excuses, Excuses

A Poem About Love

All I Have

Speak My Name

A Contest with Time

Strawflower Expectations

Cyber-Spaced

Wishes

A Bad Poem?

So Many are the Lemmings

Anything You Want

Teaching Up A Storm

Flutter-By

Doctor Duke’s Amazing Elixir of Life

They Came To Get Me

What She’s Not

My Marvelous Mom

I Wanna Love You Like That

Betty Sue

Straight to Jesus

Just as in Your Beginning

Broken Heart

Don’t Forget Love

Someday

Thesaurus Poem

Nursery Crimes

Time After Time

Understanding Poetry

Might As Well Be A Tree

The Tale of the Vorpal Snit

The Tale of Natalie Nightingale

For Juju by Bapa

What I Want My Class To Be

This Moment

Inhale

Sand

Walk, Man

The Lord’s Prayer

First Times

As You Will

Be-Attitudes

Memorable Moment

Big Bang

It’s Relative

The Come Back Kid

I Thought, I Wanted, I Hoped

Just Say It Then

Make Me A Meeting

The Greatest

Un-poem

The Ultimate Anxiety Medicine: Fukidoll

Tense Moments

Fishing

Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

Check Out This Communication Situation

Optimism

Reasons for Giving Up Hope

I Lift My Light

I Like That

Mistakes

Life’s Moments

What Wings are For

Life Gives Us Challenges

Genius Has Its Limits

Famous For What I Say

My Next Poem

How To Do Time

Life’s Greatest Things

Halawa Prison Blues

Never Chased That Dragon

For Brother Coonsey

Nick O. Teen

A Broken Toy

Question Authority

Worked For Me

Native American

All Over The Map

If I Were If

Sparkler Boy

Money

Yesterday’s Melodies

Wire and Water

Shout this Poem

What is Truth?

There’s A River Of Lava Light

Stupid is As Stupid Does

We Think We’re So Great…

Find Joy

Keep It Short

Advice to Self

Shark Park

My Answer

Poem As Prayer, Not Out There

On Fire

So Many Religions

God Said, I’m Lonely.

As I am Driving

Blue Collar Blues

My Marvelous Mother

Man On The Moon

Someday There Will Be Love

Godspell

I Believe

Love Those Love Haikus

Honeymood

Two Hawks

Oh Canada

Each Day’s Rebirth

I Wanna Love You Like This

Grow Up and Show Up

The Internet

The Most Important Things

When The Leaves Leave

The Words I Spin

Changin’

The Poet’s Prayer

For the Sake of Sound

Oh, you know…

It may seem strange

The way I can rearrange words

To say something

Or nothing at all

Like scrawl on the wall if you will, and still,

The poet is free

No, I will not be confined by my commentary

Not the least bit bound

I speak for the sake of sound

Bursting around your ear-bones

Like headphones filled with rock and roll

An imaginary stroll on a tightrope of time